MEMORY MADE

By Sashily Kling

how do I say goodbye to a man I hardly knew?

regret tastes funny on my tongue

reaching out with a child’s wish

expecting phone calls that never came conversations to standstills generation gap unfulfilled

new no-name brand sneakers every winter

short visits every summer

our migrations miss each other’s voyages south

you to Miami

me to Puerto Rico

 

did you plan it?

purposefully pushing me away

complaining that you never see me

doing absolutely nothing to change

spring sprung anew

another year without

another memory we didn’t make

another regret

 

ten years have passed

meeting your great grandson

for the very first time

stuck in a hospital bed

wires and cables connected

a freakish sideshow Pinocchio

Finally!

a memory made

 

How do I say goodbye to a man I hardly knew?

I’m not sure

but it hurts

Sashily Kling loves to write, take photos and create art. She has travelled extensively and now blogs about her adventures in Hawaii here: pr-island-girl.blogspot.com.

“A SHARED SPACE” is an ongoing reader-submitted column. To share your story, email coconnor@midweek.com